The Great Dakota Boom
by
Shebby Lee
To the casual observer, the summer of 1980 appeared to be
progressing without undue commotion. A little too hot; not enough rain;
the threatened grasshopper infestation failed to materialize - a great relief.
Black Hills towns were cautiously optimistic about the tourist season.
Local celebrations throughout the state of South Dakota came off with pleasing
regularity, breaking the routine of long summer days.
Yet there
was something different about this summer. Small blurbs in West River
newspapers only hinted at the "doings" back East. One after another the
press releases announced the centennial celebrations of Huron, Chamberlain,
Madison, Redfield, Milbank, De Smet, Miller.... the list seemed endless.
Why so many? And all in one year.
As it turned out, it
wasn't just 1980 but the year before, and the year after and several years
thereafter. Nearly every hamlet east of the Missouri (and a few on the
west bank) was founded during what has come to called the Great Dakota Boom, and
those that survived the intervening century were kicking up their heels in
triumph.
Gone are the barren, treeless prairies which greeted our
forefathers, stretching endlessly from horizon to horizon and offering both
opportunity and despair along with 160 acres of free land. Gone also are
the stony-faced settlers, mostly immigrants, who endured incredible hardships in
their determination to conquer the land.
In their place are
hundreds of tree-shaded communities with their trimmed lawns, schools,
libraries, churches and frame homes. Civilization has come to the prairie,
and though the process took less than a century it has been a hard-won
achievement.
Various dates are given by historians for the Great
Dakota Boom. Some place its beginning as early as 1873, and its end as
late as 1889. However, the years 1878-1887 are most commonly recognized as
the period of greatest growth, with 1883 being its peak.
Given
the vast richness of the Dakota prairie and the early settlement of the land to
the east, south and west of the territory, the tardy development of Dakota is on
the surface inexplicable.
The few settlements existing prior to
this time maintained a very tenuous existence on the prairie, and several, like
Sioux Falls, were abandoned altogether due to Indian scares, drought, or
locusts. Sioux Falls came back, but many didn't and the less than 12,000
souls huddled in the southeastern corner of the territory displayed more
optimism than common sense in their tenacity. Many despaired that the
prairie would ever be more than the Great American Desert it had been labeled
since earliest exploration.
The Homestead Act allowing 160 acres
of free land to settlers had been passed by Congress in 1862, but coming as it
did during a national crisis, it had little effect on Dakota Territory at first.
Not only were heads of households who might have led families westward involved
personally in the war, but large numbers of troops were transferred from the
West to the areas of combat, thus leaving our frontier forts understaffed and
vulnerable.
Then too, there were the panics of 1857 and 1873,
which coupled with "Indian troubles" seriously hindered railroad expansion into
the new territory. By 1878 there were only two railroads tentatively
extending their spurs into southern Dakota: a 54-mile stretch from Sioux
City to Yankton, and 34 miles of track connecting the Minnesota border with Lake
Kampeska near present-day Watertown.
The boosters of the
territory's largest community, Yankton, could trumpet its advantages all they
wanted, but without transportation the settlers had little chance of survival.
While not exactly a desert, the northern plains did present different challenges
to its pioneers.
The harsh extremes of winter and summer
(sometimes measuring as much as 150º difference between the seasons) prevented
subsistence farming which had sustained the settlers of other frontiers.
Farmers could raise one or two staple crops or graze herds of cattle but could
not provide all their needs from the land. Transportation to take their
crops to market and bring back necessary supplies was essential for survival on
this prairie.
But then conditions began to change, making
settlement more appealing and success possible. The years of drought
suddenly ended and the prairie blossomed into a tempting promise.
As the economic depression of 1873 abated, the railroads took a new
interest in this virgin territory. Although the federal government made no
land grants in Dakota as in other territories, there were plenty of
opportunities for profit in the founding of new towns. Town lots came dear
in railroad terminus, and since the companies had the advantage of knowing
where the track would be laid next, they invariably held title to the choicest
lots. Of the 285 towns which were platted during the Boom period, 138 of
them were founded by the railroads. 89 more were platted along the
railroad right of way by private land companies.
These were
placed every seven to ten miles along the tracks to provide a market-place for
the farmers within driving distance by team and wagon. While the presence
of a railroad meant instant prosperity for the community there was often
distrust of the giant monopolies which could place the depot, tracks and
outbuildings to their best advantage rather than the town's. For this
reason, future town sites were often discreetly bought up by agents of the
company and a certain amount of skullduggery was not uncommon in the rush for
profits.
The influence of the railroads cannot be overemphasized
in both the rapid settlement and ultimate success of Dakota Territory.
They tended to neutralize the negative weather and conditions by bringing in
fuel, food, fencing and building materials - all unavailable on the treeless
plains. And of course the railroads brought the farmer closer to his
marketplace.
During the Boom years over 2,000 miles of track were
laid by the two rivals: the Milwaukee Road and the Chicago and Northwestern.
After a reluctant start in Dakota Territory the railroads enthusiastically took
up the banner of free land and bally-hooed the virtues of Dakota far and wide.
Many a Scandinavian or northern European immigrant first heard of this new land
of opportunity from a railroad brochure, poster or flier printed in his own
native language. Dakota Territory is located on the same latitude as these
countries and the sturdy agrarian peasants adapted their lifestyles and their
crops easily to the new land. Many had relatives already living in
Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin or Canada who joined the newcomers on their way West.
Unlike earlier pioneers who formed caravans of prairie schooners across the
plains, these settlers came by rail, often to within just a few miles of their
final destination. By 1890, one-third of the population of the new state
of South Dakota was foreign-born, mostly Norwegian. Next came Germans,
Russians, Irish and Swedish. They came in such numbers that newly arrived
passengers often camped in dusty streets surrounded by their families, livestock
and household goods for want of adequate lodging in the infant towns.
In 1882, near the height of the boom, as many as 18 trains arrived daily in
Huron. 1,000 passengers disembarked per week, 250 freight cards were
unloaded every month. A Huron public house served 400-500 meals daily
during this period.
Arriving simultaneously with the settlers
were the newspapers. While some exemplary members of the fourth estate set
up shop to serve the people of the community by outlasting the boom, most early
Dakota printers were opportunists who managed to give the profession a very bad
name in an amazingly short period of time. These were not really
newspapers at all but printers set up to publish the legal land claims of the
settlers - for an exorbitant fee - as required by the Homestead Act. As
all the land was taken up in a given area, the printer would pack up his (very
portable) press and move on to a newer settlement and fresh claim fees.
It was an exciting time - the great land grab of the eighties - some said the
last frontier in America.
The Black Hills gold rush
notwithstanding, it is probably the most important event in South Dakota
history. In two short decades the population ballooned from 11,766 to
328,808; the 1,700 farms became 50,158 farms, and the six platted towns
grew to 310. Ultimately the burst in population enabled the territory to
enter the Union as two states rather than one in 1889.
And then,
as quickly as it had begun, it was over. By 1887 most of the prime farm
land was claimed. That, added to a three-year drought which began in 1886,
effectively reduced the flood of emigrants to a trickle. A few allowed the
hardships and loneliness of homesteading get to them and they retreated.
But most remained to form the rigid backbone of the developing state.
Rigid is a harsh word. One prefers to apply gentler adjectives to one's
own ancestors. But this land which our forebears settled and which we now
inhabit is tamed only until the next spring blizzard or hailstorm, tornado or
flood, or prairie fire - all of which can wipe out a crop or a herd or a
homestead as easily as it did over a hundred years ago. And in this still
largely agrarian state the people reflect the same toughness and perseverance of
their forebears.
While towns on the eastern seaboard observe 300,
350, and even 375 years of survival, South Dakotans who celebrate a mere century
on the prairie do so with a personal stake in what Grandpa or even Dad struggled
to establish. History is much closer to South Dakotans and therefore more
precious.
